Primaryandsecondary Archives

Baselines #4 Reload Drills

May 13, 2019 by Ash Hess

If you are following this series, you have seen that I lay out some baselines then some drills on how to gauge or establish that baseline. In the last article, I wrote about reloads so this one is some thoughts on how to learn or test reloads. First, let me tell you all I am … Read more

Baselines #3

April 30, 2019 by Ash Hess

Once we have our first baselines as laid out (see parts one and two) there are a ton of other skills that need to be trained, practiced and tested. Having the ability to group, zero and fire at a stationary target from a few positions does not a gunslinger make. One needs to be able … Read more

Baselines #2

April 8, 2019 by Ash Hess

Part Two In part one we talked about some standards from 0-500 with rifles. Some will argue that the standards are too loose while some will argue that they are too strict. That’s exactly why they are the standards. You can be above, at or below the standard. It’s easy to understand. Your standard shooter … Read more

Baselines

March 27, 2019March 26, 2019 by Ash Hess

I am LE and I have a decent baseline of competency with a pistol. What would you say a good basic competency with a rifle would look like? This question was asked of me recently and I felt it would be a good time to do a series on it because I am sure many … Read more

Thoughts on Fighting rifles

September 6, 2026January 28, 2019 by Ash Hess

What makes a Great fighting rifle? Is it just reliability and the ever-present internet “MILSPEC” assembly and parts or is there something more?I have spent the better part of my adult life focused on fighting with a gun and over six years directly involved with how to use them effectively. During this time, I have … Read more

Rifle Grouping as a Marksmanship Baseline

September 15, 2026June 29, 2017 by Ash Hess

Consistent rifle groups establish a baseline for zeroing, shooter diagnosis, ammunition comparison, equipment testing, and future marksmanship improvement.

Sucked Down the Tube: A Failure in Training

May 31, 2017March 12, 2017 by Ash Hess

Much, if not all training and practice is conducted on flat ranges under calm conditions with no surprises. We shoot steel and paper that we purposely place and identify. We have lanes and all sorts of safety considerations that make a day at the range a pleasant experience. This is fine for most of us but can lead to some critical failures if you are in a line of work that may not look the same as the flat range. For those that form either the thin Blue or Green Lines targets will probably appear in from unknown positions and ranges. Many people preach situational awareness but fail to account for it in our training. COL Boyd gave us the OODA loop, which on the surface, is a rapidly trainable flow of Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. It is a loop because as soon as you act you start over.

Inches, Minutes, Clicks- Zero That Blaster

March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 by Ash Hess

Zeroing is literally one of the most important thing we need to accomplish with our rifles and #spacegun pistols. There is much talk around the technique to accomplish this but there is one way that is easy and fast.

Follow Up on TC 3-22.9

February 21, 2017 by Ash Hess

A year ago, we finished the last edits on the TC 3-22.9 that published in May of 2016. For those that have taken the time to read this book, you know it’s very different than the books we have used since the 1970’s. For those that haven’t, this post will hold less value because you … Read more

The Do Everything Carbine

February 16, 2017 by Ash Hess

We see rifles set up for Close Quarte Battle (CQB), Designated Marksman (DM), Special Purpose Rifle (SPR), General Purpose (GP) and a myriad of other acronyms. While I fully support building of fine firearms, I just wanted to talk about a Do Everything carbine. First off, we must look at our application of the rifle. … Read more